Vedic religion

Vedic religion, also called Vedism, the religion of the ancient Indo-European-speaking peoples who entered India about 1500 bce from the region of present-day Iran. It takes its name from the collections of sacred texts known as the Vedas. Vedism is the oldest stratum of religious activity in India for which there exist written materials. It was one of the major traditions that shaped Hinduism.

Knowledge of Vedic religion is derived from surviving texts and also from certain rites that continue to be observed within the framework of modern Hinduism. The earliest Vedic religious beliefs included some held in common with other Indo-European-speaking peoples, particularly with the early Iranians. Though it is impossible to say when Vedism eventually gave way to classical Hinduism, a decrease in literary activity among the Vedic schools from the 5th century bce onward can be observed, and about that time a more Hindu character began to appear.

Vedic texts

The only extant Vedic materials are the texts known as the Vedas, which were composed and handed down orally over a period of about 10 centuries, from about the 15th to the 5th century bce. The Vedic corpus is composed in an archaicSanskrit. The most important texts are also the oldest ones. They are the four collections (Samhitas) that are called the Veda, or Vedas. The Rigveda, or “Veda of Verses,” the earliest of those, is composed of about 1,000 hymns addressed to various deities and mostly arranged to serve the needs of the priestly families who were the custodians of that sacred literature. The Yajurveda, or “Veda of Sacrificial Formulas,” contains prose formulas applicable to various rites, along with verses intended for a similar purpose. The Samaveda, or “Veda of Chants,” is made up of a selection of verses—drawn almost wholly from the Rigveda—that are provided with musical notation and are intended as an aid to the performance of sacred songs. Finally, the Atharvaveda is a later compilation that includes incantations and magic spells.

To each Veda is attached a body of prose writings of later date called Brahmanas (c. 800–600 bce), which explain the ceremonial applications of the texts and the origin and importance of the sacrificial rites for which the Vedas were composed. Further appendices, the Aranyakas (c. 600 bce) and the Upanishads (c. 700–500 bce), respectively expound the symbolism of the more difficult rites and speculate on the nature of the universe and humanity’s relation to it.

When Vedic religion gradually evolved into Hinduism between the 6th and 2nd centuries bce, the texts, taken collectively, became the most sacred literature of Hinduism. They are known as Shruti (“What Is Heard”), the divinely revealed section of Hindu literature—in contrast to the later strata of religious literature known as Smriti (“What Is Remembered”), traditional texts attributed to human authors. But in modern Hinduism the Shruti, with the exception of the Upanishads and a few hymns of the Rigveda, is now little known, while some of the Smriti texts remain extremely influential.

Mythology

Vedism was a polytheistic sacrificial religion involving the worship of numerous male divinities (and a few goddesses), most of whom were connected with the sky and natural phenomena. The priests who officiated at that worship were drawn from the Brahmansocial class. The complex Vedic ceremonies, for which the hymns of the Rigveda were composed, centred on the ritualsacrifice of animals and the drinking of a sacred, mind-altering liquor pressed from a plant called soma. The basic Vedic rite was performed by offering those to a sacred fire, which was itself deified as Agni and which carried the oblations to the gods of the Vedic pantheon. Agni and Soma were at the same time material elements of the ritual offering: Agni was the fire of the sun, of lightning, and of burning wood; Soma was the deified aspect of the liquid poured in the oblation. The god of highest rank, however, was Indra, a warlike god who conquered innumerable human and demon enemies and brought back the sun after it had been stolen, among other feats. Another great deity was Varuna, who was the upholder of the cosmic and moral laws. Vedism had many other lesser deities, among whom were gods, goddesses, demigods, and demons.

Ritual

The ancient Vedic worshippers offered sacrifices to those gods in the hope that they in return would grant abundant numbers of cattle, good fortune, good health, long life, and male progeny, among other material benefits. To ensure the efficacy of their prayers, the people came to believe that their offerings could be made more acceptable to the gods if accompanied by songs of praise and other invocations of the gods’ might and power. Thus originated the rites described in the Vedas. Every sacrifice was performed on behalf of an individual, the patron or yajamana (“sacrificer”), who bore the expenses.

The rites of Vedic sacrifice were relatively simple in the early period, when the Rigveda was composed. They required neither temples nor images. The ceremonies took place in an open space that was consecrated afresh for every important occasion. The altar (vedi) was a quadrangle marked out by hollowing or slightly raising the ground. The agnyadheya (“installation of the fire”) was a necessary preliminary to all the large public rituals and was preceded by the patron’s fast.

The sacrifices themselves were of two major types—domestic (grihya) and public (srauta, or vaitanika). The domestic rites were observed by the householder himself or with the help of a single priest and were performed over the domestic hearth fire. Some occurred daily or monthly, and others accompanied a particular event, such as the samskaras, sacraments marking each stage of an upper-caste Indian’s life, from conception to death.

The grand rites performed in public, by contrast, lasted several days or months and could usually be undertaken only by wealthy men or kings. They required the services of many priests and were usually performed at three fire-altars. Most characteristic of the public ceremonies was the soma sacrifice, which ensured the prosperity and well-being of both human beings and gods. In that basic ritual, a lay sacrificer was first consecrated, after which juice was pressed three times from the soma plant, part being offered to the fire and part consumed by the priests. Each of the three occasions was preceded and followed by recitations and chants. Edibles such as meat, butter, milk, and barley cake could also be offered to a sacred fire.

Animal sacrifice—the killing of a ram or goat—existed either independently or as an integral part of the sacrifice of soma. The celebrated ashvamedha, “horse sacrifice,” was an elaborate variant of the soma sacrifice. Human sacrifice (purushamedha) is described and alluded to as a former practice but probably was merely symbolic. The sacrifice of the mythical giant Purusha, from whose dismembered limbs sprang up the four major social classes (varnas), probably served as a model for the conjectured human sacrifices. Other ceremonies marked fixed dates of the lunar calendar, such as the full or new moon or the change of seasons.

Development and decline

Over the centuries, the Vedic rites became increasingly complex and governed by innumerable rules, which were embodied, together with the hymns and prayer formulas used, in the Vedas. During the late Vedic period the complexities of ritual were emphasized to such an extent that only highly trained Brahmans could carry them out correctly, and it was maintained that improperly or incorrectly performed rites could, unless rectified, bring about disaster or death.

In reaction against this excessive emphasis on ritual (as well as the growing power of the Brahmans), Vedic thought in its late period became more speculative and philosophical in approach. Much speculation was directed toward the search for harmony and for correspondences between macrocosm and microcosm, with the ultimate goal being a reduction of reality to an all-embracing unity by way of successive equations. In the Aranyakas, Vedic ritual is interpreted in a symbolic rather than literal manner, and the Upanishads question the very assumptions on which Vedism rested. The crucial idea that emerged from that period of intense questioning was that of brahman, the ultimate reality and also a sort of guiding principle. The central theme of the Upanishads is that the atman, the unchanging core of a human being, is a part of brahman. The equation of atman with brahman became the basis of Hindu metaphysics. The spread in the 6th century bce of the related concepts of reincarnation, of karma, and of the attainment of release (moksha) from this cycle (samsara) by meditation rather than through sacrifice marked the end of the Vedic period.

The legacy of Vedic worship is apparent in several aspects of modern Hinduism. The basic stratification of Vedic society into four varnas—the Brahmans (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors or rulers), Vaishyas (traders), and Shudras (servants)—by and large persisted in later Hinduism. Sacrifices performed according to Vedic rites continue to be performed in India occasionally, and the offering of oblations to a sacred fire (homa) is an important element of much modern Hindu worship (seeyajna). The Hindu rite of initiation (upanayama) is another direct survival of Vedic tradition. Vishnu and Shiva, the major deities of classical Hinduism, are briefly mentioned in Vedic mythology, and Indra remains the king of the gods in narratives, although he is no longer worshipped.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Matt Stefon, Assistant Editor.